Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami says with regard to the Naira redesign policy and the Naira swap policy, President Buhari has not acted in breach of the case instituted at the Supreme Court by some state governors.
Malami stated this while appearing on the Ministerial Media Briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said as far as the rule of law is concerned, there are many options available. He said few individuals are promoting the interest of those that may have gotten their wealth illegally and looted public funds which they intend to use to influence the electorate in the forthcoming elections.
Some governors including Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state had openly blasted President Buhari for the Naira swap policy, asking residents not to comply with the expiration of the legality of the old N500 and N1000. The two governors are among the governors that had gone to the Supreme Court to stop the February 10 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), concerning old N500 and N1000 naira notes ceasing to be legal tenders
Answering question on the position in some quarters that the utterances of the governors were tantamount to treason, the AGF affirmed that investigation cannot be ruled out, adding that the relevant security agencies will determine if there will be the need for further action or not.
Malami stressed the importance of the redesign policy, which he said will enable citizens to assume collective ownership of the electoral system rather than allowing a few moneybags to take charge. He also said the policy was designed to allow freedom of choice and also fight corruption.